A Gentleman for Lady Juniper (Clairvoir Castle #6)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

R ain pattered at the window where Jack stood looking out on the street below. He counted the number of carriages out on the day, noted someone in the house across the street looking out the window, and wondered briefly if anyone other than him thought having a drainpipe so near the window could tempt particularly adept burglars.

The large, square snout of a dog landed upon the windowsill next to him, and Jack looked down at the impressively sized animal just as it huffed, breath fogging up the glass near its nose.

The German-bred boar hound was massive; Jack could easily pet the beast’s shoulder without bending to do so. Perhaps one needn’t concern themselves with drainpipe-climbing thieves with dogs as large as Apollo and Athena.

Apollo gazed up at him with large soppy eyes and a slight wag of his tail.

“Look.” It was his brother George’s voice, stage-whispering. “Now we have two guard dogs at the window.”

“Aye, but Apollo is the handsomer of the two,” Richard added, somewhat gruffly .

Jack smirked, despite himself, and scratched behind the boar hound’s ears.

“Ah, I see he hasn’t given up his habits then, scowling out windows at the least provocation,” Lord Hartwell said from across the room, where he held a cue stick at the perfect angle to knock another’s ball into a hazard.

The men in the room, Jack’s brothers Richard and George, and Hartwell’s brother Lyness Eastwood, all turned toward Jack at the exact instant Hartwell struck the ball. All looked back at the table and groaned. Hartwell was a rather deft hand at the game, trouncing all of them.

“We need a table at our house,” George said, looking at Richard. “Playing once a week at the club will never improve our abilities in this gentlemanly game.”

Richard, eldest of them and rather bright, continued staring at Jack. “Lord Hartwell, do you mean to say you remember our youngest brother’s role prior to our family’s elevation?”

“Indeed. I cannot claim to know the servants of every nobleman in England, but one pays attention to the people the Duke of Montfort employs. Your brother was assigned to Lady Josephine for a time, which marked him as a trusted servant. That is when I met him.” Hartwell stepped back so his brother could take a turn at the table. “I was always rather struck by his stoicism.”

Jack smiled to himself and raised his eyebrows at Hartwell. The baron was clever enough to have realized Jack hadn’t been a mere footman, even if he’d never been directly told what the duke’s servants were prepared to do on behalf of His Grace’s kin. He’d spoken directly to Jack about his duties at that time. Good of him to not bring it up in that moment.

“I count it a compliment that you noticed me at all, Lord Hartwell.”

“Drop the ‘lord’ business, please. Saves so much time. Hartwell is good enough.” He nodded to George. “Your turn, Mr. Sterling.”

“May as well trim down the confusion and time, as myself and my brothers are all accustomed to being the only Sterling in the room. Call me George.”

“Tenby does well enough for me, though I am still learning to answer to it.” His oldest brother, the freshly minted Viscount Tenby, looked at Jack. “What is it you prefer these days, Jack?”

“Jack is well enough for friends and foes alike,” he said, coming to the table as Apollo trotted off to sit by the hearth with the female boar hound. “And your preference, Mr. Eastwood?” He looked to the baron’s younger brother.

“Eastwood is fine.” Lyness Eastwood didn’t stutter often, Jack knew. He hadn’t heard him stumble over his words once in his own home. Perhaps it was a matter of comfortability. “It has been rather entertaining to watch your family’s adjustment.” He cut a glance at Richard. “I think half the ton knows the duke is invested in your family. The speculation on that account is…interesting.”

“Interesting how?” George asked after missing his shot, the ball clattering harmlessly against the side and gaining him no points. “I have had a few dolts make sly remarks to me speculating on the connection, but most know it is Jack who connects us to His Grace’s family.”

“Through honorable employment,” Richard added gruffly. As the eldest, he’d never left home to seek any sort of employment. He’d stayed and managed the family holdings, modest as they were, with full expectation of taking them over one day—which, in a way, was still true. Sharpness entered his tones. “Though I suppose there are those who will never forgive him for being in service, or George and Arthur for being in trade, or me for knowing how to plow a field.”

Hartwell and his brother exchanged a glance, and Jack cleared his throat as his heart sank. “Have a care, brother,” he said quietly. “We are in friendly company.”

The baron folded his arms, cue still in one hand. “We cannot help from whence we came, and those who matter will not judge for it. You are to be commended for doing so well that the gossips have little they can say to amuse themselves at your expense.”

“That is a relief to hear,” Richard said with a tight nod. “And I…apologize. For my outburst. I had a conversation with my wife this morning, and I believe the ladies are feeling a greater amount of pressure than we are.”

“Are they?” Lyness Eastwood struck his ball perfectly before straightening, his brows drawn together. “One would hope that ladies would be granted more grace.”

“Not by other ladies,” Richard muttered. “It is greatly to our benefit that our sister Emily has been taken under the wings of the Amberton sisters. She has become almost popular.”

“We ought to call on your sister,” Lord Hartwell announced with a sudden grin. “Though I doubt she needs help filling her at-home hours. She is the very picture of an English lady in form and grace, she does your family credit.”

While the baron spoke, Jack kept his gaze on Lyness, sensing a sudden tension in the younger man’s bearing. He twisted the cue in his hands, looking down at the floor. “We ought to have c-called after the ball when we met all of you, but we had other obligations.”

“The flowers you both sent gave all the ladies in the house great pleasure,” Jack volunteered, still watching Lyness—whose ears had reddened somewhat. “Though your company would certainly have been preferred compared to some of the gentlemen we entertained that afternoon.”

“Is there anyone you need more information about?” Hartwell chalked the tip of his cue. “We might have insight into them if you have yet to look into their backgrounds and finances. Every man has his failings, of course, but I doubt you wish your sister to end up with a gambler, rake, or debtor.”

“Waldegrave,” Jack said without hesitation. “Mr. Edgar Waldegrave.”

The Eastwood brothers exchanged a glance, Lyness frowning and the baron raising his eyebrows.

“He is well connected,” Hartwell admitted. “Grandson to an earl, his mother is Lady Helen Waldegrave. His father is a wealthy gentleman with property in Shropshire.”

Lyness snorted and put his cue into the rack. “Waldegrave has nothing to r-r-recommend him. He is a snob.”

“Really? Then I am surprised he doesn’t see our Emily as beneath him,” George remarked. He totaled up the scores in the notebook they’d used for the length of the game. “Hartwell wins. Of course. Then Jack, Eastwood, myself, and Richard.”

Richard grumbled as he pulled his coat on again. “We most definitely need a table of our own.”

Far more interested in the subject of Waldegrave than the game, Jack kept his eyes on Lyness. “Why would a snob be interested in a woman not raised to reflect her current station? Even if she technically outranks him—daughter to an earl has to be higher than a grandson, is that not correct? George is right, his persistence with Emily seems out of keeping with such a character.”

“Money is always a p-powerful motivator.” Lyness’s stutter returning said more about his feelings on the subject than the frown did. “And as we said, Lady Emily c-c-conducts herself with d-decorum.”

The baron put each stick back where it belonged, speaking over his shoulder. “One who did not know her circumstances would be hard-pressed to suspect she wasn’t born into her position, or at least in a higher climb of the gentry than a gentleman farmer’s daughter.”

“Good thing better men than Waldegrave are interested in our Emily, then,” Richard muttered. He looked at Jack with his brows drawn together. “You are keeping her safe in that way, are you not, brother? As we agreed?” Richard’s anxiety likely came from the knowledge that Jack filled the role Richard ought to, as eldest brother. Someday, Jack hoped his brother would have the confidence to manage the family’s affairs. Until then, it fell to Jack.

Delivering a tight nod of affirmation, he said, “She has my whole attention at present.” Still, guilt settled in his stomach at the partial falsehood.

Yes, he was keeping an eye on Emily and her prospects, but he’d grown somewhat distracted during their outing with Juniper and her sister. He’d spent more time admiring Juniper’s cleverness and fair face than focusing on Emily. Waldegrave’s routing hadn’t even been his doing.

A servant entered the room bearing a silver tray with a letter on it. “My lord, this letter has just come from York via special messenger. As it is from the baroness, I thought it best to bring it to you at once.”

Lord Hartwell took the paper and broke the seal at once, and his brother stiffened and stared at him with concern. The brothers lived in York most of the year, only coming to London for the most crucial parts of the parliamentary season. It had become something of a joke for the men of Lords, from what Jack understood, that if they saw Roman Eastwood, Lord Hartwell, on the streets of London that one knew important votes were on the docket.

Whatever was in the letter wasn’t a laughing matter, evidently. Hartwell looked up at his younger brother. “I cannot leave until day-after-tomorrow. The bill for the canals…”

Lyness nodded once. “I will leave immediately.” He held his hand out for the letter, and he seemed to relax a little as he read, then he shook his head ruefully. “It d-does not s-s-sound like an emergency. More a re-request. ”

Hartwell looked up at the rest of them. “Gentlemen, I apologize, but I must cut our afternoon short to attend to this family matter with my brother. I will make it up to all of you in the near future, I am certain.”

They bowed and began to take their leave, with Jack the last to go to the door—but Lyness stopped him. “A moment, Jack, if you p-please.”

He hesitated, waited for the man to continue.

With a somewhat subdued smile, Lyness said quietly, “P-Please give my regards to your sister. And d-do warn her about Waldegrave. The man isn’t a devil, but he’s a nuisance. The sort to make a lady’s day unpleasant rather than something of merit.”

At that moment, Jack realized that Lyness Eastwood might have more than a passing interest in Emily, and after only one meeting between them. He kept his gaze steady on the other man, measuring what he knew of Lyness and the family for a moment. Then nodded. “I will make certain she is aware of your concern for her, sir.”

The other man cleared his throat as the tips of his ears pinked. “It n-needn’t come from me.”

That merely made Jack chuckle. “I think it ought to.” If there was a man he trusted near his sister, it would be this one. Lyness Eastwood had always conducted himself modestly, respectfully, and showed himself fair-minded. There was a reason he and his brother were often welcome at the Duke of Montfort’s castle. “It is a shame you must leave Town so immediately. Tomorrow my family is to visit the Burlington Arcade with Lord Dunmore and the Amberton sisters. I should have liked your help in escorting the ladies.”

A pained expression briefly touched the man’s features, then he smiled somewhat ruefully. “I hope there will be another time when I m-may assist you in such a noble endeavor. Until then, give my best to…to all of them.”

Lyness bowed slightly, Jack returned the gesture, then followed after his brothers—both of whom teased him about moving too slowly for their liking. He endured their jests with no more than a slight roll of his eyes as he climbed into the family carriage.